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It has been more than a year since a new state law made the drug Narcan, which can prevent a death from a heroin overdose, more readily available, but not all treatment centers are making use of the lifesaving drug.

The effort by the state to get the word out on Narcan continues after the law expanded access on Oct. 1, 2012 following pleas from substance abuse treatment experts and family members of addicts.

"This was a big step in Connecticut," said Chris Henegan, director of the Windham Harm Reduction Coalition, an organization that promotes health and dignity to individuals and communities impacted by drugs.

The law allows family members and loved ones of a heroin or opiate addict to get a prescription to the drug, which is also referred to as naloxone. The drug is injected with a syringe or administered with a nasal spray when a person is overdosing. The drug works by reversing respiratory failure.

While promising a means to save a life from an overdose, the sad reality is that many people who died from heroin die alone. From 2010 to 2012, eight of the 12 drug-related deaths in Torrington were from heroin and five men and three women died alone.

This year, three men died in Torrington from tainted heroin earlier last month.

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has been educating physicians about the change in the law for the past year to try to get Narcan into the hands of more people.

Mary Kate Mason, department spokeswoman, said department had two trainings with providers in the past year. More than 150 providers, including community treatment centers and health care organizations, received trainings on how the new law works, Mason said.

"It's very new for us," Mason said. "We've been doing for training for advocacy groups. ... We continue to do training and roll out."

NOT ALL PROVIDERS HAVE participated in the training session.

At McCall Foundation, the agency recently transitioned between doctors and haven't participated in the department's Narcan program.

"We plan to in the coming year and are planning to have an information session for the public in early 2014," said Paul Mahler, clinical director at the McCall Foundation, a drug treatment and prevention program based out of Torrington.

Robert Plant, chief clinical officer at Wellmore Behavioral Health of Waterbury, said his outpatient program has had little experience with Narcan.

Plant said many of the patients who are in treatment or are struggling with addiction don't have good relationships with family members or supportive adults.

Not all treatment programs have been as hesitant to embrace Narcan.

Lynn Madden, president and chief executive officer at APT Foundation of New Haven, a drug treatment and recovery center, has been prescribing Narcan to its patients since January 2009 as part of its overdose prevention groups.

The idea was to give people out of treatment Narcan because they would be likely to relapse or have the potential to help somebody else who is overdosing. Since January 2009, APT Foundation has given out 803 Narcan kits.

"If I'm someone dealing with addiction, I'm not likely to use Narcan," said James Siemianowski, director of evaluation, quality management, and improvement with the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. "The idea was try to make it accessible and available to family members because they might be the ones most likely to intervene."

HEROIN AND OPIATE-RELATED DEATHS have skyrocketed in the United States and Connecticut. From 1997 to 2007, a study in the journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found that 2,231 of the 2,900 drug-related deaths were from heroin.

Drug-induced overdose has been the most common cause of accidental death in Connecticut every year for the past 10 years, according to the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

There's little data on how many prescriptions have been written because of the new law. The law requires the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to track the number of prescriptions each year. The only data so far is for the last three months of 2012 with approximately 100 prescriptions for Narcan were written in Connecticut, Siemianowski said. Data for 2013 won't be available until next year.

There are no plans to expand the law even more in Connecticut.

Allowing police officers to administer Narcan isn't something area departments jumped at the chance to take part in.

IN TORRINGTON, POLICE Chief Michael Maniago said the quick response by paramedics from Campion Ambulance doesn't create a need in the city.

"If we didn't have such a great medical emergency service in town, I would say that's something we'd like to explore," Maniago said. Christopher Corbett, deputy chief of the Waterbury police department, declined to comment.

Neighboring states have cast an even wider net to those who can have access to the life-saving drug.

In Massachusetts, an overdose prevention program that started in 2007 has resulted in 2,370 people being saved from an opiate overdose, according to a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The program in the Bay State allowed 20,500 individuals to be given Narcan kits and how to use them through various organizations across the state.

"The training helps individuals recognize and respond to an overdose by calling 911, performing rescue breathing and administering naloxone nasal spray. The programs also offer referrals to treatment and long-term supports," said Anne Roach, media relations manager for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The cities have also taken a bigger role. In Quincy, Mass., the police department was the first in the state to have police officers carry Narcan kits in their cruisers.

In the past 18 months, police officers administered Narcan 210 times, and 200 lives were saved from overdoses, according to Christopher Walker, spokesman for the mayor's office.

In Rhode Island, the state teamed up with Walgreens that allows family members and friends of a heroin addict to walk into the pharmacy to get a kit and training from a pharmacist. No proof is required to get a Narcan kit. The state public health office does not have any numbers on how many kits were distributed.

" Don't you guys get it? People CAN NOT get off of Heroin! It's not telling them it's ok to do. They are already stuck doing it. It must be great that you guys all have perfect families and friends with no problems. "

" Just like the rediculas articles about letting people know there's "bad batches" going around. I know not one of these junkies will be missed in my community so let the get a bad batch!? Why are we spending money to save a OD victim. They already live on our taxes an donations. Of course people's lives arn't perfect but I'd rather not get robbed by a junkie. "

" Addicted people aren't that way because they want to be that way. Believe me nobody enjoys sleeping under bridges, and eating out of dumpsters. Addiction is a very punishing illness. Addiction is an Equal Opportunity Destroyer, it does not discriminate and treats everybody who has it exactly the same - it does not care if you are rich and famous, or poor and unknown. A lot of opiate addiction starts when people begin to enjoy their prescription pain killers so much that they begin to over take them - in most cases progressing to heroin. Do not be fooled into believing t that this illness can't happen in your family, and contrary to an earlier post people can and do recover from heroin addiction . It is a lot easier to treat addiction when the addicted person is still alive. Narcan affords addiction treatment professionals, and addicted people. that option. "

" @Jason , I wholeheartedly agree with your points. I do not believe however that this should be kept around as a backup plan, because it would encourage heroin use. I am opposed to non medical heroine use of any kind. "

" @Jason.....you are so right about addiction......it can strike anyone......case in point.... rush Limbaugh has acknowledged his opiate addiction and has been arrested for prescription fraud and been to rehab ........ "

" @ conservative1 You made a point to indicate that Rush was addicted to pain pills (which may I add he procured illegally) and that he isn't anymore. You appear to make a distinction between pain pills and heroin. Would you make a distinction between brandy and vodka? Probably not, they are both hard liquor to you. OxyContin and heroin are both " hard opiates". Medically speaking heroin is equally effective at treating pain and is a schedule 1 drug due to its stigmatized past in this country.

Secondly, you infer that rush and beck don't do it anymore. If they had the opportunity to right the wrong in their lives, don't current addicts/alcoholics deserve the same opportunity? I got news for you, addiction is a chronic progressive disease. As for all addicts in recovery, tomorrow is an uncertainty. "

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